Chapter 12: Bloody Battle in the Abandoned Building

Serena arrived at an abandoned building on the outskirts of the city.

The so-called blood clan gathering spots referred to places like this; those black households usually lived in abandoned malls, buildings, and unfinished structures.

Because there were quite a few of these buildings, it made it difficult for the Other Race Bureau to clear out the black households hiding in the abandoned buildings— at the slightest sign of trouble, they would immediately leave for somewhere else.

“…”

This should be it…

Serena knew this was one of the places where those black households hid, but she wasn’t sure if they were still here.

She could only try her luck.

She planned to find the black household in charge here, interrogate them about the location of Scarlet’s higher-ups, and then go for revenge.

Serena clenched her fist, feeling the flow of power, and then entered inside.

***

“Hey, you got any blood bags left?”

“I do, but they’re almost gone— save some when you drink.”

Serena’s luck was good; as soon as she entered the abandoned building, she saw a group of blood clan black households gathered together, sharing tonight’s food.

No time to waste—

Serena slowly approached them, accidentally stepping on some debris on the ground, making a noise that caught the black households’ attention.

“Who—!?”

The black households stood up alertly, seeing Serena slowly emerge from the darkness.

“It’s your grandma!”

Serena rushed forward in a single bound, instantly shattering the heart of the blood clan in front of her with one punch!

“It’s her—!”

“Quick! Go call the people upstairs! That bounty target’s come to us!”

They divided tasks clearly: one person went up to call for reinforcements, while the rest picked up whatever could be used as weapons from the ground to hold her off.

“You came knocking on our door yourself!”

“Take this!”

Two of them charged at Serena, one with a wooden plank, the other with a steel pipe.

“Hmph!”

Serena directly took the wooden plank with her body, targeting the one with the steel pipe first— she grabbed his hand to control it, then punched him in the chest.

Ah—! That person flew several meters away; as for the other, Serena grabbed his hand and executed a shoulder throw, instantly cracking the ground into a web-like pattern, and that blood clan stopped moving.

“How—”

“How did you suddenly get so strong!?”

The last blood clan stared at her in shock; it hadn’t been long since the ambush, yet Serena had recovered to this state, making him somewhat astonished.

“Because I’m not like you!”

With that, Serena rushed forward again, grabbed him, and threw him out.

With that, this group of blood clan was eliminated, and Serena also heard more and more movement coming from upstairs.

“…”

This is going to be a tough fight…

Meanwhile, back at Wuming’s home.

Wuming lay in bed, tossing and turning; he had said he wanted to sleep quickly, but he couldn’t fall asleep at all.

His mind kept thinking about Serena: how she was now, where she was, what she was going to do.

It made Wuming lie in bed, though he said he didn’t want to care about her, but in his heart, he felt unusually anxious and uneasy, unable to sleep.

“…”

Unable to sleep, Wuming got out of bed, turned on the light, sat at the computer desk, and turned on the computer.

“Welcome, Brother Wuming, to the live room!”

That familiar voice— Wuming had entered Crosti’s live room again, with the comments flooding with things like 【Burn him】 and such.

But Wuming had no mind to pay attention to these comments; he just wanted to see if Crosti was still streaming.

“Brother Wuming, you there?”

Hearing Crosti looking for him, Wuming typed on the keyboard: 【I’m here.】 After seeing Wuming reply, Crosti said.

“Sorry, Brother Wuming came late; I’m about to end the stream.”

“I’ll sing a song just for Brother Wuming in this last bit of time.”

Wuming listened to her song while slumping over the computer desk, his mind still unable to forget Serena.

“…”

What’s wrong with me…

Why… can’t I forget her…

It’s only been less than half a week…

“That’s it for today’s stream; everyone, come to Ji Bai’s live room on time tomorrow— we’ll see you at 8.”

Crosti ended the stream, and Wuming’s room returned to silence once more.

If Serena were here…

It definitely wouldn’t be this boring…

Suddenly, Wuming’s phone vibrated; he opened the screen and saw a message from Crosti.

“【Wuming, was the song I just sang good?】”

“【It was very good, Crosti】”

Feeling that wasn’t enough, Wuming added another: “【Aren’t you sleeping this late?】”

“【Nanning at midnight is when night life begins, Doctor Wuming.】”

The next message, Crosti sent a helpless emoji.

Midnight…

Only then did Wuming check the time; it was only 00:15— he hadn’t expected it to be so early.

“【What are you doing, Doctor Wuming? Want to go grab some late-night snacks together?】”

Crosti suddenly invited Wuming to eat late-night snacks with her, which puzzled Wuming.

“【Aren’t you blood clan? How can we eat late-night snacks together?】”

“【I’m not pureblood.】”

The next second, Crosti replied.

“【I’m mixed-blood, so I can eat human food too— no need to worry.】”

And sent a 【Thumbs up】 emoji.

Mixed-blood…

Speaking of which, he was kind of mixed-blood too; just more influenced by his mother’s bloodline.

As for his father…

There was a curse passed down in his family: 【The spouses who marry in never get a good end】, and his father was the same.

He was already waiting in the other world.

This was also why Wuming resisted Serena’s forced marriage; he didn’t want Serena to follow him and not get a good end.

He did that to protect her too.

Back to Crosti’s message; as for going to eat late-night snacks, Wuming was happy to do so, and right now he was feeling restless and wanted to go out for a walk to clear his mind.

So Wuming accepted the proposal.

“【Then I’ll come find you now, Doctor Wuming.】”

“…”

After replying, Wuming waited there for Crosti to arrive.

On the other side, Serena had slaughtered through the second and third floors and now arrived on the fourth floor, confronting a group of blood clan.

Her clothes were already torn, but she still looked composed as she watched them.

“Give up resisting, Serena!”

“We’re many and strong— you can’t escape here at all! Someone’s already bringing brothers over!”

“You can’t kill us all!”

Now this group of blood clan wasn’t as easy to deal with as the ones on the first and second floors; they held machetes and homemade weapons— completely on a different level.

But even facing these blood clan, Serena wasn’t afraid.

She hadn’t used her ability yet on her way up here; now facing so many with cold weapons, Serena could use that move.

“Today is the last day of your bloody lives!”

One of Serena’s eyes flared with blood-red light; instantly, everyone’s movements in Serena’s eyes slowed down as if by a hundred times.

She ran up and punched each blood clan one by one, repeating the cycle until every blood clan had taken a punch from Serena, except for the one in charge.

She stood in front of that blood clan, tossed away the weapon, and then released her ability.

“Wah—!!!”

Except for the one she hadn’t killed, those blood clan instantly flew in all directions; not one could stand back up.

“You…!”

In the blink of an eye, those blood clan were on the ground; that blood clan small leader trembled as he looked at Serena in front of him.

“Just this level of skill?”

Serena punched him in the chest; that blood clan soon knelt on the ground in agony, wailing.

But Serena had no time to listen to his wailing here.

“Crying? Crying counts as time too!”

“Now tell me, where is your Scarlet organization’s headquarters! How do I get there!”

“I…” That blood clan hadn’t recovered yet, but even if he had, he knew nothing about Serena’s questions.

“I don’t know…”

“Don’t know?” This obviously wasn’t the answer Serena wanted; she clenched her fist threateningly.

“If you don’t know, then make yourself know! Or I’ll keep beating you until you talk!”

Just as Serena was interrogating him—

Two vans drove up here; each van carried about 20 or more blood clan.

They got out of the vans, took out machetes and homemade weapons from sacks, even homemade guns and crossbows.

A blood clan who stood out in sharp contrast to those black households’ appearances stood in the center; he wore a flashy, shiny tight outfit, his hair styled upright, looking like an entertainment host.

“Come on! (Hurry) Get up there! Bounty target (bounty target) is right up here!”

“As long as we catch her, audience ratings (viewership) will definitely explode!”

Instantly, those blood clan acted like they were on steroids, charging inside with howls; even Serena, who was still torturing, had heard the footsteps coming from downstairs.

“Tch…”

“You’re done for, Serena! Those people are coming for you!”

Already beaten into a pig head, he now showed a smug smile, believing she couldn’t escape this building.

“…”

Serena let him go, saying before leaving, “We’ll see about that!”

She drank the unfinished blood bags from those blood clan dry, then waited for those people to come to her.

“Tonight, let’s end this!”

Serena waited for those people to come up; before long, the place was packed with blood clan.

“Oh~ honey (darling) Miss Serena, come back with us, come on! (hurry!)”

That blood clan in the gaudy outfit said arrogantly, looking like he had Serena in the bag.

“What nonsense are you spouting?”

Serena looked at him like an idiot; she hadn’t expected such words to come from that guy’s mouth.

Hadn’t he seen the people lying all over the ground?

“Your fate will be the same as theirs,” she pointed at the blood clan lying on the ground; they would end up just like them here.

“Hahaha—! What nonsense are you talking, honey (darling).”

“You only escaped the ambush a few days ago and now you’re talking big! I bet you’re really weakness (weak) right now.”

“Whether I’m weak or not, why don’t you try and find out?”

Serena said with a smile; seeing her so composed made that blood clan very angry!

“You’ll be begging at my feet soon!”

“By the way, this hunting (hunt) is being live-streamed the whole time— you’re gonna embarrass yourself in front of the entire blood clan.”

Hearing him say that, Serena shifted her gaze outside; sure enough, she saw a few bats circling the building.

But even so, Serena still put on a composed attitude.

“That’s what suits this miss.”

As she spoke, Serena tossed her hair, presenting her most beautiful side to them.

“Go! All of you, get her— didn’t you hear!”

That blood clan shouted furiously for all the blood clan to charge and grab her; Serena activated her ability again!

“【Time】!”

The whole place slowed down once more; Serena went forward, punching those blood clan one by one just like before.

“Urgh—!!!”

Suddenly! Serena’s heart felt like it was stabbed by a sword, her face showing an expression of pain.

“Damn it…”

“Why now…”

Serena’s red eye suddenly faded, and the whole world abruptly returned to normal time flow.

And that blood clan saw Serena right in front of him, hurriedly ordering his subordinates.

“Quick! Shoot! Fire—!”

Then, Serena saw—

A black gun barrel and crossbow arrows pointed right at her.

“…”

“Urgh—!!!”

Wuming, waiting in the living room, suddenly felt like his arm was hit by something, immense pain; he hurriedly ran to the bathroom.

What’s going on!?

Wuming quickly undid his clothes, but through the mirror, he saw no significant wounds on his body.

Phantom pain…?

Wuming touched the spot with his hand, but felt no pain from pressing.

What the hell is this…

Wuming racked his brain but couldn’t figure out what that was just now— why he suddenly felt such pain, like being hit.

If it was an illusion, that phantom pain was way too real.

Like he experienced it himself.

And though Wuming felt no pain when pressing there, the spot still ached faintly.

Could it be some hidden illness…

Just as Wuming thought he had some disease and should get checked tomorrow, his hand suddenly touched that ring.

He hadn’t noticed before, but once he touched it, a heart-wrenching pain surged through him, making him quickly pull back his hand.

“—!”

That’s…!

Wuming placed his hand on the ring again; that heart-wrenching pain swept over him once more, but this time he didn’t hurry to pull back— he endured it.

Besides feeling that heart-wrenching pain, he also sensed many complex emotions, but none were happy or joyful.

“Urgh—!!!”

In the end, Wuming couldn’t withstand the pain and pulled back his hand.

What is this…

Just then, Wuming heard the doorbell on the first floor; he guessed it must be Crosti coming for him.

Might as well ask her directly.

Wuming thought that since Crosti and Serena were both blood clan, she must know what just happened to him; to understand, just ask Crosti.

So Wuming hurried to the first floor, raised the shutter, and sure enough, saw Crosti standing at the door, looking at him happily.

“Hello, Doctor Wuming.”

In contrast to Crosti’s happiness, Wuming wasn’t happy at all; he grabbed Crosti’s hand and pulled her inside.

“Eh eh eh—!”

Crosti was pulled into the house bewildered, not knowing what he meant.

But she knew Wuming definitely wasn’t the type to be so impatient for lewd things— it must be something more important.

“Crosti, I have a very serious question for you.”

“Wh… what?”

Crosti was very curious what could be so important to make Wuming this anxious.

“Do you know what this is?!”

Wuming extended his hand, showing Crosti the ring.

“This—”

The first glance Crosti saw, her face showed shock; not because the ring was special, but because of where he wore it.

Doctor Wuming… has a wife!?

“Quick, tell me! What do you know, Crosti!”

“Why do I feel pain and discomfort when I touch this ring!?”

“Pain? Discomfort?”

Hearing Wuming say that, Crosti’s gaze turned to the ring again; this time she realized— this wasn’t a ring only blood clan would wear!?

“Let me see.”

Crosti grabbed Wuming’s hand and examined the ring; after confirming it was indeed a ring only blood clan would wear, Crosti reached out and touched the ring.

“Any feeling?”

Wuming shook his head.

“Only when you touch it yourself?”

Wuming nodded again.

Crosti already had a rough guess, looking at Wuming seriously.

“This ring is unique to our blood clan; its biggest feature is the soul-sharing function.”

“Soul-sharing?”

“Simply put, it’s like GPS positioning, with shared perception inside; one side can clearly sense the other’s feelings— that’s soul-sharing.”

“From what you say, the reason you feel pain is because the other side is seriously injured, so much that you have to share part of it.”

So that’s it…

That means, right now, Serena… is in danger!?

No wonder it hurt so much just now.

“Doctor Wuming,” Crosti still looked at him seriously. “What exactly happened? Why are you wearing this ring? Who is the other person?”

“This…” Wuming scratched his head, not knowing how to explain the issue to Crosti.

“In short… it was given by a rather troublesome patient… she randomly married me or something…”

“…Huh—?”

Crosti drew out her tone, looking at him in disbelief.

“That’s the story; from what you say, she must be caught in danger.”

“Then what are you doing here!” Crosti suddenly grabbed Wuming’s hand. 

“Let’s go, Wuming! It’ll be too late if we don’t!”

“Don’t rush, Crosti; if we go for late-night snacks now, won’t it…”

Wuming still thought she was rushing to take him for late-night snacks, but it wasn’t what Wuming thought.

“What late-night snacks— don’t you want to save that person, Doctor Wuming?!”

“Crosti, you…”

She looked at Wuming seriously. “Don’t you want to save that person, Doctor Wuming?”

“Though I don’t know what happened, she gave you this for a reason! This ring has important meaning to us!”

“She wouldn’t casually make this pact with someone; this is the most important thing in a blood clan’s life.”

But it was that casual…

Wuming really wanted to retort like that; his thoughts pulled back to the scene of his conversation with Serena at that time.

But Crosti quickly brought him back.

“Doctor Wuming isn’t the type to see someone die without helping, right? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have saved me back then.”

“…”

Wuming’s heart was still conflicted: Serena was in danger now— should he save her or not.

This wasn’t comparable to Crosti back then; saving Serena meant getting himself into danger too.

So Wuming was now in a dilemma.

“…”

His hand unconsciously touched the ring again, wanting to check Serena’s current situation.

“Hiss—!!!”

The result was the same as before, or rather, even more painful than last time, with some despair mixed in.

“Doctor Wuming?”

Crosti looked at Wuming with concern too.

“…I understand.”

Wuming took a deep breath: one to suppress his pain, the other to make his decision.

He gently broke free from Crosti’s hand.

“Wait here for me; I’ll prepare some things and come down.”

“Let’s go pick up that ‘patient’ together.”